Time: 133 Minutes
Age Rating: M – Violence
Cast:
Scarlett Johansson as Zora Bennett
Mahershala Ali as Duncan Kincaid
Jonathan Bailey as Dr. Henry Loomis
Rupert Friend as Martin Krebs
Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Reuben Delgado
Ed Skrein as Bobby Atwater
Director: Gareth Edwards

I enjoyed the previous Jurassic Park movies, even the Jurassic World trilogy. However, I was not really sure about the idea of another entry in the franchise, it seemed that they had done everything they could’ve done with this concept by the time Jurassic World: Dominion released. Still, the inclusion of a good cast and especially Godzilla and Rogue One director Gareth Edwards at the helm did at least have me interested in the new film. I liked it for what it was, despite its many issues. 

Jurassic World: Rebirth may be the 7th film in the franchise but don’t worry about rewatching the previous movies to prepare for this new one, the main carry over is the fact that dinosaurs are out living in the wider world which was introduced by Fallen Kingdom. David Koepp is the writer, and he previously wrote the scripts for the first two Jurassic Park movies. Unfortunately, the writing for Rebirth is a mixed bag. You notice it in the sluggish first act as it tries to establish everything in a decent way. It spends a lot of time on a boat in this section, and it takes a while for the plot to move to the island full of dinosaurs. The characters themselves are pretty thin, and it’s really the cast that are bringing it where the writing doesn’t deliver. Once the dinosaurs actually come into play in the plot, that’s when the movie picks up considerably. On the whole, Rebirth is functional. It feels a bit smaller compared to what came before but for good reasons. Fallen Kingdom introduced dinosaurs going into the wider world, and you couldn’t really expand further than what Dominion already did. So it goes back to basics and doesn’t try anything new. However, everything is generally fine. It has a typical three act structure, the character arcs are thin but they are there and reach their natural conclusions, and even the obligatory storyline involving a family works better than expected (at least better than the ones in Jurassic Park 3 and Jurassic World).

Rebirth has a good cast with the likes of Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali and Rupert Friend. Bailey and Ali were the standouts for me. The characters aren’t special, but overall I’d say that the main trio succeeded over the main cast from the previous few Jurassic World movies at the very least. The actors did what they could with the script, even if they were a little under served in parts. 

Gareth Edwards’s work as director here is solid. The cinematography and visuals are really good, and considering his past work, it’s no surprise that Edwards knows how to convey scale. I liked the designs and CGI for the dinosaurs and they are used well here. I particularly enjoyed how the dinosaurs have gone back to actually feeling and behaving like animals. There are also some satisfying and tense set pieces, especially with the scenes involving water.

Jurassic World: Rebirth is formulaic, and the writing and characterisation is a mixed bag. However, the set pieces are thrilling, the cast are solid, it’s directed well, and the visual effects are great. I wouldn’t say that it breathes fresh life into the franchise, but they did find a way to make yet another one in the franchise, and it is functional enough.